grapejuice

I must have missed something about this. You really can't trust previews. They're full of misdirection.

who what?

I'm sure there will be different interpretations but mine is that ... this was the first, very tame and kind of silly test that ZL would face. His old friend was pressured into creating an event to invite him to so that they could corner his attention and make their position/demands known. They would use it as a bargaining moment but they wanted to embarrass him first, make him look foolish and highlight the fact that he has none of the other officials at court to back him up ... this was to put him on the back foot where he would be less certain before they talked numbers. But it was amateur hour really.

ZL was to direct his arrow at the gourd to release the dove that was inside. And he did that. His arrow hit the uppermost end which shouldn't have hurt the bird. It was a perfect shot but they had put a dead bird inside to make it look like he had bad luck and was making an inauspicious start to his new law reform project. He should have been embarrassed and ... unnerved because the dead bird was also a threat of sorts.

Only he wasn't unnerved or embarrassed. One of the big officials with clout sent his daughter and a symbol of support to the event and ZL was able to shoot down an even smaller bird from a greater distance ... so it was clear that ZL wasn't unlucky and he wasn't totally alone. And then he gave it to them straight that they weren't going to get any better a deal than anyone else in the negotiations ... and so they would just have to deal with the reality.

I also took the fact that ZL kicked his friend to show the others that they shouldn't bother to pressure him to use his connection to ZL to get them what they want. He made it clear that they weren't so close after all and so that would be a useless thing to keep doing. Hopefully he spoke to his friend about it before or after or their real connection was strong enough that his friend would be able to figure out that ZL was kicking him to get him off the hook.

And the birds symbolism? Doves are for love and peace while the sparrow is a sign of warm weather and good luck to come. So, the dead dove may actually have been a soft threat of sorts ... no love from us to you ... but they made it look like ZL killed the bird and was a bad guy ... as well as an inept soldier who couldn't hit a target. So, when he shoots a smaller bird in flight from further away he's showing yes he can shoot. He's quite capable ty very much ... and no he's not going to bring them any special warmth or luck in the form of a sweetheart deal.

Too many words but that's how I read it.

Isn't he her uncle?

I think the uniforms were mentioned just once so ... not hard to miss at all.

I think all we need to understand is that there was a system of licenses and a black market that benefited some people and not others. Those that did well in it have become much more powerful and achieved high ranking positions. They made a lot of money; a lot of it under the table. And so any kind of reform is going to challenge their dominance and potentially loosen their heads from their shoulders. But it's not just them. There were winners and losers all down the pecking order and all those who have been gaining will resist change with everything they've go.

So ZL is basically screwed no matter what he does in this position. He's been set up to fail by enemy Yu who knew that the Emperor would put him in the role if the role got created. The people who might benefit from change have no real power to help him. Those that have power are or will be out to kill him. And even the Emperor wants deniability. He's given ZL the power to act without consulting him. ZL will take all of the responsibility because only the final report goes to his boss who wants him to succeed but can easily let him go if he doesn't. He wants ZL to succeed because he wants to get the maximum tax dollars from legal salt sales. He wants to shut down the corruption and black market so the military and the crown/nation can benefit.

So, when ZL fails or makes inevitable mistakes, the Emperor may or may not back him up. He likes ZL. I think he feels that, if anyone can do it, it will be ZL, but, at the same time ZL is totally expendable. Oooops I made a mistake to trust a low born so much. He had such charisma I was overwhelmed and deceived.

Not sure we need to understand much more than this ... though I might be proved wrong.

I think he's kind of interesting in a way. His parents threw him into the channel where you become a brilliant scholar on the way to being an official. And he did that very well. He's booksmart. He spent a whole lot of time learning the words of great people and so he aspires to be one of them. Exalted. An intellect. Wise. Superior. The opposite of power, ambition and manipulation which are actually the things that his family relies on. So he hated the FL until he realized she was smart and pure in her thinking. He hates the ML because he lacks an education and still earns the love of the FL. It's like our SML just really can't win and only we know that he never will. He,himself, is naive and deluded and disappointed and feels that this is so unfair that he must constantly throw his very dignified tantrums over it. He's kind of funny in a way. He's thoroughly hateful but he's also kind of tragic in that he doesn't see that education can lead you wrong sometimes and life experience can bring you wisdom that is deeper than what you get from reading the classics. He's a piece of work, so entitled, but kinda sad too because he's not nearly as smart as he thinks he is. And he represents a lot of real life people who think that they are superior to others who lack their birthright. So he's kind of a quintessential villain; the kind we all might meet along the way in our own lives. People we all need to fight at some point.

I guess they just see him as an extention of themselves. And since they can do no wrong, they just immediately think about how to foil those that he wronged. And so they maneuver ZL into a no-win situation where he is going to make enemies even out of old friends. Yikes. Bullies don't see the consequences of their own actions. They just see the bullied person's reactions as a new threat that almost has nothing to do with the things that they've done to create the chain reaction in the first place. Evil is not too self aware in this way.

Growing up with TY, she felt low born in comparison; a mere scholar's daughter compared to the chosen one in a rich family. So she doesn't value her father or his work. She, unfortunately, grew to look down on her own origins and just couldn't see their real worth. So, it's not, maybe, stupidity on her part, it's self hatred. She's trying to negate her former self, obliterate her past in order to really become a part of the wealthy Yu family. To her, then the books are a symbol of what she wants to get rid of and the money she can get from them is her entry ticket into a better rank and greater worth. Her dad was thinking along the same lines when he made them a part of her dowry although I doubt that he thought she'd sell them instead of allowing them to increase her worth on their own. Let's hope that her poor dad never learns about what she's tried to do.

1. the girl's school. 2. the letters (written on bamboo) of soldiers that died a hundred years ago defending their families and nation. 3.a new military uniform design

TY was entered in the county records as a reward for three things that she had done for the region and the nation ... 1. she established a girl's school where she, herself, taught for years ... 2. she restored the bamboo splints on which soldiers from a hundred years ago had written their last words about dying for their loved ones and their country ... these helped to motivate the current day soldiers to march for victory themselves ... and 3. she redesigned the soldiers uniforms and improved them ...

I think ChocolateBrownie is right that she was praising TY while the maid was praising ZL.

So, if she does in fact, go after ZL to become his concubine, she may be aiming in that direction because she values TY as much or more than ZL. She admires and values TY and wants to be in her camp or she appreciates a power couple when she sees one and wants to join their household.

If you look down the comments, somebody quoted the actor who played Yu Cheng from an interview he gave about his character. He described what was going on in his mind. He didn't say anything that the audience didn't know already but he put it together the way it would have coalesced in Yu Cheng's mind at that moment. I think you might enjoy reading it.

Keyboard vigilante? Sometimes. I guess certain things annoy the hell out of me too. In this case, unnecessary hyperbole being used to communicate something that's unnecessarily unkind.

If this is honestly the kind of thing that "annoys the hell out of you", you must be triggered by a whole lot of things a whole lot of the time. Must be exhausting.

Why are people making a big deal out of this? And how many times will we have to read about it in this thread? It's like people are trying to plant the thought in other people's minds so that the ML doesn't get too many new fans out of this. The look is actually in character. It's a deliberate characterization that they're even emphasizing. One thing is for sure, with it being so noticeable, the director would have changed it if it were just the way the actor looks and not a part of the character's changing stance in the world.

So, does it really matter so much? The director would have made him change it if it didn't fit with the character's development arc. And they're purposefully framing his face, neck and posture in the shots that they're making so it seems to be very intentional. But you still want to unsee it since it's so unsightly to you? What a strange and slightly insulting comment.

The interrogation room was an interesting scene. All kinds of red robed officials, who shouldn't be there, were standing around looking like pissed off witnesses who would complain about ZL to the Emperor. They didn't know yet that he' is doing this investigation at the Emperor's request.

Anyway, some of them might be suspects and maybe one even gave Li the poison before he confessed or before he signed a confession or before one could be fabricated.

There were also stacks of paper everywhere like maybe he had been talking but hadn't signed what he'd said and so it wouldn't be a useful confession if not signed.

Also, what ZL said to Li was pretty cruel. Kinda like your confession isn't important so why eat poison before I could extract it from you. Why kill yourself when that isactually the thing that was more important. So the idiot had actually helped ZL when he was sacrificing himself to make sure that ZL couldn't gain anything from him. Woooo thick irony there.

So, there may have been names given or some useful information but no useable confession. And, together with the charade that he played with the Emperor, suspects won't know what ZL and the Emperor actually know which will make them pretty paranoid and maybe prone to error from now on. And they'll be doubly scared. ZL has just reminded them that the stakes are death if they are proven guilty and maybe even if they aren't proven guilty.

At the very least, ZL had played the situation well even if it didn't go entirely to plan.

I don't know what it was but I guess she could just play along to continue his plan by making like they are just polite strangers now after a breakup. She hasn't been going around telling absolutely everyone about her engagement so maybe they've both been playing the same game. It's not like she would be hurt by his act. She knows it's not for real so I doubt she's been actually hurt by it. A lot of people here are thinking that she's not smart enough to figure it out?

If you were the bad guy, would you kidnap the well respected lady if you weren't sure that your target would pay the ransom because he's a low born cad who doesn't care about her enough to have married her? Doesn't matter if there are people calling her his fiance when he says they aren't and they haven't really been for such a long time. Personally, I'd leave the lady alone in this circumstance and try to find a better way to get at my target.

As for her reputation being harmed. I don't think she cares too much cuz she knows the truth that they will marry some day, she's got stuff of her own to do ... and she has much thicker skin than other women in her position.

She is surrounded by her family and is more visible in the capital. She can't quietly disappear. She also has a private guard and honors to her name so I imagine she'll start a career there so again, she's got better things to do and she's gone beyond suffering over her reputation. I mean she's not looking to make a good marriage match. She has a reputation of a different sort now. One she earned by being brilliant and she's only attending these parties because she wants to learn things that might help him. So, people might be looser with their lips if she isn't his fiance and that might help too.

I guess we can split this in both directions and we'll both be right in one way or the other. The thing is that it's only temporary and they're both certain that they'll be getting married some day. So it's hard to be apart (and it bothers the audience) but he's trying to save her from more than heartache and it's not a sacrifice that they weren't both willing to make. Which means that it's a very defendable kind of noble idiocy if you can call it that at all.

He had people fooled until the Emperor outed them in public. Watchers were thinking and even ready to humiliate her with taunts about his jilting her. So his plan might have worked if he'd had a chance to discuss it with the Emperor. People wanted to think he was a cad and they wanted to think that she was pathetic and so there had been a breakup ... but the Emperor seems to be a bit smitten with our leads and their relationship so he just had to ship them in front of the other officials and now everybody has to change their tune.

Totally agree on your assessment of the second lead couple and their GOAT. I was even wondering how the latter had trained the baby to pick up the right objects at the party? I could see her studying the problem for hours (while scheming up other things too) before arriving at just the right placement for the next generation narcissist.